The new year can often mean a fresh start. Whether that’s signing up to the gym, starting a new hobby, or vowing to become your own boss, the new year can represent new beginnings. You just need the courage to take that leap.

The entrepreneurial spirit of many dentists means that they are often looking at new opportunities and, for many dental associates, their next step in career progression would be to buy an existing practice or set up a brand-new practice from scratch. Dreams of taking an old empty office space, shop or bank and turning it into a warm and welcoming space for your patients can become a reality with the right backing and the right advice from Day 1.

Once all the planning work is done and the shiny new practice opens its doors though, how do you go about getting the right team behind you? We’ve written a couple of blogs in the past about recruitment and salary packages but today, I want to focus on the practicalities involved with paying your new employees.

Below are several points to consider when you are starting out as a business owner and are looking to take on employees for the first time:

• The business will need to register as an employer with HMRC (this is generally done in the same month in which the first employees start).
• Each business will also need a workplace pension scheme to run alongside the payroll to ensure it meets the requirements set out by The Pensions Regulator.
• Setting the employee’s pay rates will be a balancing act. You need to select rates that are competitive without falling into the realms of overpaying staff whilst still being mindful of the national minimum wage.
• Alongside agreeing the pay rates, you will also need to decide how you would like to pay the staff – either by way of a set monthly salary based on their contracted hours or according to how many hours they work per month. Salaries may mean both you and your employee can budget their finances more easily, but hourly pay may correlate better with the income streams of the practice.
• Once all the above is agreed, it’s important to have the appropriate contract of employment in place for each new employee. This document outlines the terms and conditions of employment, including the employee’s rights and responsibilities.
  Staff will also be very keen to know their annual leave entitlement and how they go about booking holiday so you will need a system in place to keep a track of this from the start.

Once everything is in place, then comes the monthly pay run:

• Most payroll providers will need time to prepare the payslips so it’s good to have what we refer to as a cut-off date – for example, if your pay day is the last working day of the month then the cut-off date could be say 27th. Overtime, sick leave and unpaid leave deductions can be calculated up to that point and then information forwarded to your payroll provider, so you have all the information back in good time for pay day.
• Employees can also be reimbursed for essential expenses of their employment such as GDC membership fees, indemnity insurance payments and vaccination costs, all of which are tax-deductible business expenses.
• Then you need to actually pay the staff. Given that you’re probably going to have your hands full running the practice, could your payroll provider assist you with arranging the payments each month?

Opening a new practice can be a daunting notion but getting the right advice from the beginning can help ensure that your vision becomes a reality. If you’re considering taking such a leap in the future, or would like some help with setting up and running the payroll for your business, we can help so please get in touch.